Color Dipped Hat

I know how these Color Dipped Hats were made, but even still, I like to imagine something wildly different. I think of them as capturing the tiny window in time when a soft white fabric is quickly dipped into a vat of pigment, and the color seeps through the outside but hasn’t yet coated the inside.

Using two colors of Purl Soho’s lovely Line Weight to knit up easy-as-pie Fisherman’s Rib, you’ll find that one side of the hat’s edge is almost saturated with color, while the other is just lightly striped. Such a surprising and beautiful effect from so little effort!

Wear it one way out or the other, cuffed and beany-ish or uncuffed and slouchy… The Color Dipped Hat is like four hats in one, each one a study in the marvel of knitting! -Laura

Materials

Main Color (MC): 1 skein of Purl Soho’s Line Weight, 100% merino wool. We used the color Heirloom White.

Contrast Color (CC): 1 skein of Purl Soho’s Line Weight, 100% merino wool. We used the colors Pink Grapefruit, Super Pink, and Sea Salt, pictured above, from left to right

A US 2 circular needles, 12-inch length for Baby size or 16-inch for all other sizes

Sizes

SAMPLES: The Samples pictured here are size Baby in Pink Grapefruit, Teen/Adult Small in Super Pink, and Adult Large in Sea Salt.

Notes

Working into the Stitch Below

k1b [knit one below]: Insert the tip of the right needle into the stitch below the next stitch from front to back, knit normally (wrapping the yarn around the needle and pulling it back through the stitch below) and let the stitch above fall from the left needle.

p1b [purl one below]: Insert the tip of the right needle into the stitch below the next stitch from back to front, purl normally (wrapping the yarn around the needle and pulling it back through the stitch below) and let the stitch above fall from the left needle.

Decreases

pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch and off the right needle…

place the knit stitch you just worked onto the left needle, pass the following stitch over it and off the left needle…

place the knit stitch back on the right needle. [2 stitches decreased]

Lsl dec [left slanting decrease]:

Slip one stitch knitwise with yarn in back…

knit the following two stitches together…

pass the slipped stitch over the k2tog and off the right needle. [2 stitches decreased]

Pattern

Begin at Bottom Edge

With CC, cast 88 (104, 120, 136) stitches onto the circular needle. I used a Long Tail Tubular Cast On, because it’s nice and stretchy, but a basic Long Tail Cast On would also do! If you use the Long Tail Tubular Cast On, don’t forget to work the two Foundation Rows before joining in the round (they are described both in our tutorial and below).

If You Did a Long Tail Tubular Cast On…

Foundation Row 1: *Knit 1 through the back loop, slip one with yarn in front, repeat from * to end of row.

Foundation Row 2: *Knit 1, slip 1 with yarn in front, repeat from * to end of row.

If you Did a Long Tail Cast on or Similar…

Foundation Row: *K1, p1, repeat from * to end of row.

Work Body of Hat

Place unique marker and join for working in the round, being careful to not twist the stitches.

For Sizes Toddler/Kid and Adult Large Only

Repeat Round 1 one more time. [24 stitches, both sizes]

Next Round: *K1b, p1, repeat from * to last two stitches, removing stitch markers as you get to them, then slip two stitches onto right needle, remove end-of-round marker, replace two slipped stitches onto left needle.

For Sizes Baby and Teen/Adult Small Only

Next Round: *K1, p1b, repeat from * to last two stitches, removing stitch markers as you get to them, then slip two stitches onto right needle, remove end-of-round marker, replace two slipped stitches onto left needle.

Hi Kelty.
Oh goodness, you’re putting my knitting knowledge to the test. There are definitely multiple names all over the world for each stitch. I am not a knitting historian, but I don’t believe this stitch, Fishermans Rib, is also called a Twisted Rib.

As far as I know, a Twisted rib typically refers to when you are alternating knitting and purling, but you’re working either the knit column or all the columns through the back loop. Fishermans Rib is more closely related to Brioche Stitch.

Is there a step in the stitch that is slowing you down. We’d love to help you through it! Please don’t hesitate to write back!
Laura

Hi Aaron.
I’m afraid, at the moment, we only have a photo-tutorial for this decrease method. Is there a specific step that’s slowing you down? Please write us back! We’d love to help you.
Thanks for writing in.
Laura

I’m also having trouble understanding this decrease method. It would be great if you could post a video. I have looked all over the internet and cannot find one for this decrease method. I’m assuming the SSK method doesn’t work because of the fisherman’s knit? Or could we decrease that way ? Similar to the “boyfriend hat” decreases.
Thanks ~Mary~

Thank you very much for writing in! I am very sorry for the delayed response! I am also sorry to hear that you’re having trouble with the decrease. Unfortunately, we don’t have a video for this. We really want help you figure this out, is there anything specific in the decrease instructions that is giving you a hard time? Please let us know!

Thanks for writing in! Lsl dec stands for left slanting decrease and rsl dec stands for right slanting decrease. We do have directions for both of these decreases above under the Decrease heading just before the pattern begins. We use these as a way to decrease while keeping the look of the pattern!

I am very interested in the mittens you have pictured above. I have a problem; the mottens are white and so is the background they are on. It is very hard to see. I am not sure if they are something within my skillset or not.

Hi All
Thank you for such beautiful and in my case “challenging” knitting assignments!! I have finished the body of the hat and love it. I am at the point of placing markers for shaping the crown and find i have 110 stitches not 120! I have the markers at 15, 15, 15 and 10. My first question is should I space them out more or if I don’t will the crown be obviously “askew” Thanks again for any assistance!! ~Mary~

Oh no! You can certainly work with 110 stitches. Set up your markers thusly: (K1b, p1) 13 times, pm, *(k1b, p1) 14 times, pm; repeat from * to end three times. This way your stitches will be divided as evenly as possible and your hat will not end up oblong at top! Thanks for writing in and good luck with your knitting!

Very cute hat pattern that create a warm cozy fabric. However, after trying the pattern out I just wanted to place a friendly word of warning that any mistake will sadly ruin the solid color stripe effect and that correcting errors is difficult at best! The rib pattern is unforgiving.

I would love to know your thoughts on using a different stitch after the color dipped portion. I love the hat, but know it’s going to get messy when knitting a single color. Maybe garter stitch? Not sure how that will affect the stretchiness. May just use a bigger yarn if using a different stitch doesn’t seem like a good option, Thanks!

Thank you for writing in! We are very sorry for the terribly late response! Working this stitch shouldn’t be terribly messy in a single color, but if you are concerned you can certainly try a different stitch. You’re right, the garter stitch does not have same stretch to it as the fisherman’s rib. I recommend making test swatches and experimenting with garter or even stockinette to see if you like the look of those stitches along side a fisherman’s rib rim. Please keep us updated and let us know if you have further questions!

Thanks for the question. It depends on how off your row gauge is. Just remember that this pattern counts each stitch as two since you are knitting below for the right side of the fabric on one round and for the wrong side on the next round. Considering this is a hat, row gauge isn’t as important because you will knit up a certain length before decreasing. Hope this helps! Best of luck!

I like to use Clover’s Locking Stitch Markers for everything. They come in regular size and jumbo. They are great because you can clip the marker on to a stitch is you need to count how many rows you’ve done, etc.

Hi! I love this pattern and am currently making it in two colors of the woolfolk. I have a question for you about the last stitch in the round when you’re working the contrast rounds — do you have a tip on how to work the last p1b? The stitch above keeps getting lost when I switch yarns.

Thanks for writing in! I hope I can answer your question. When purling below, you will always lose the stitch above because you are drawing the new yarn through the row below and dropping the stitch off the needle. After cutting the CC, you will continue in pattern. Once you get to the end of the first round you have two options: 1. you can purl below and loose the CC stitch or 2. you can just purl that stitch. The choice is yours! Each makes for a pretty good looking join with minimal jogging or gapping. I hope this helps.

My husband asked me to knit a hat for him (first time he’s asked me to knit him something!) and I really love this for him. I am trying to substitute a thicker yarn, because US2 needles are really rough on my wrists. I would love to try Worsted Twist, but would it be way too thick and take away from the pattern? Maybe Mulberry Merino would be better. How does the silk content affect warmness? Would love to hear your suggestions.

Thank you for writing in! I think that is exciting that your husband has requested a hand knit item from you, yay! I don’t think the Worsted Twist would detract from the pattern, we used a very bulky yarn for our Color Dipped Scarves and the stitch pattern is still visible and lovely.

With that said, I recommend going with the Mulberry Merino. The silk content gives this yarn a more masculine sheen and does not take anything away from the warmth.

Thank you for writing in! We don’t have a separate tutorial post for this decrease, but we do have a description with pictures of the Rsl and Lsl decrease stitches.

For the Rsl:

“Slip one stitch knitwise with yarn in back, knit one, then…

pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch and off the right needle…
place the knit stitch you just worked onto the left needle, pass the following stitch over it and off the left needle…
place the knit stitch back on the right needle. [2 stitches decreased]”

Then the Lsl:

“Slip one stitch knitwise with yarn in back… knit the following two stitches together… pass the slipped stitch over the k2tog and off the right needle. [2 stitches decreased]”

Thank you so much for writing in! The numbers 13, 15, and 17 refer to the size hat you are making. So, for the Baby size you would (K1b,p1) 11 times (Toddler/Kid 13, Teen/Adult Small 15, Adult Large 17).

Let’s take a look at the Set-up Round and try to clear it up for you. I am not sure what size you are knitting, so for this example I’ll use the Baby size.

Hi! I made this hat with merino wool which is a bit thicker, for a total of 72 stitches – still a factor of 16, but I’m a bit confused about how to decrease. How many decrease rounds do I need, and should I follow the pattern for the smallest size? Thanks in advance for the help!

Thanks for writing in! For the decreases, the only thing you need to worry about is placing your markers after a purl stitch and dividing your stitches into four even quadrants. The amount you want to decrease is up to you. You can decrease very little for a “gathered” look at top, or until you have 8 stitches as in the pattern. I hope this helps!

This pattern is so cute! I started working on my hat this weekend and it was going great, but unfortunately, I ran into some trouble when I absentmindedly made a couple of stitches where I purled two stitches below instead of one stitch below. I tried to tink back and repair, but it wasn’t as simple as with simple k1p1 ribbing, so I am stuck! Can you direct me to any resources for repairing fisherman’s rib? I am far enough into the hat that I don’t want to rip the whole thing out! Thank you!

I feel for your troubles as I have had the same problems too! Unfortunately, I’ve found that the easiest and best-looking way to repair fishermans rib is to rip back the rounds until you come to a mistake-free round. I know this does not sound appealing, but in all my trials and tribulations with this stitch it is quite difficult to make the stitch look the same as the rest of the hat if you “pick up the stitches”. Though there are no direct videos about purling two below, there is a very clear video on youtube about fixing fishermans rib and here is the link:

Hi there, I am knitting this lovely hat for my eldest daughter.
This question might sound silly but when you say cast on 104 stitches, are you counting the loop you do to start casting on, or is this loop not included in the 104 stitches?
Thank youuuuuuu!

I love this! It’s been on my “to knit” list since y’all posted it last year, but I’m finally finishing my daughter’s baby blanket (she’s only six months old) and I finally have time.

I have the size 2, 12 inch circular needles used in the Newborn hats project and am wondering if those will work on either the baby or toddler sizes. Also, my daughter will be a year old this winter and has an average size head. Seriously, her head has always measured in the 50th percentile. Anyway, which size should I knit, baby or toddler?

Thank you so much for the kind words! I think you should give it a shot on the US 2, 12″ circulars and if it’s too uncomfortable, you should probably buy a 16″. I would knit the baby size for your one year-old because the hat will ultimately stretch out with wear. You could make the toddler size too if you aren’t convinced and she can grow into it. Thanks again for the kind words!

I love this hat but I consider myself a beginner knitter ( projects include scarves and blankets). The pattern seems a bit tricky. Do you think it’s something a beginner can tackle? If not, any other hats you would suggest as my first one? I have some purl line weight yarn I am looking to use. Thanks!!

Thanks for writing in! If you haven’t knit in the round or made a hat before, then I don’t suggest making this as your first project. Instead, I recommend doing the Hat to Match. It uses line weight and is a relatively simple hat. I hope you like the suggestion!

It’s taken me a few tries but I think I’ve got the long tail tubular cast on and two foundation rows correct finally. However I’m not really clear which is the stitch below to continue with the fisherman’s rib. Help?

Thanks for writing us! So glad you got the tubular cast on down! The stitch below is the hole directly below the stitch on the needle. It might be hard at first to see with so few rows completed, but if you stretch down the cast on you’ll be able to see the hole. Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks for writing in! While we can’t customize patterns on here, I can certainly guide you! First you’ll want to do a gauge swatch in the round. After you get your stitches per inch, multiply this number by the circumference of your head minus 2″ (negative ease for a hat). This will be your rough cast on number. If it’s an odd number, round up to an even number for this particular stitch. The decreases are divided into four equal quadrants, so also make sure that the cast on number is divisible by four. Best of luck and you can always write back in with more questions!

Hi!! If I wanted to knit this all in one color, would I just ignore the contrast color instructions and do all of those steps with the same yarn? I love the slouchiness of this hat but would prefer it as a solid color 🙂

Love this hat but am not good enough to work with the small needles yet (I tried, it was a disaster.) Has anyone tried this pattern with super soft merino? I thought I would ask before I do the math. Thanks for all the great info here!

Thanks for writing in to us! I totally understand that the small needles are a bit daunting. If you want to do this hat in Super Soft Merino, I am going to estimate that your cast on will be roughly 48 stitches for a women’s hat. I haven’t swatched this in the round, but I do know that from the Color Dipped scarf pattern we get about 2.25 stitches flat. Best of luck!

I am about to start this hat using your Line Weight and a long tail tubular cast on (LTTCO) and I noticed the instructions say, “If you use the LTTCO, don’t forget to work the two Foundation Rows before joining in the round”. I have watched other tutorials on LTTCO and they join the two ends as soon as they finish the first CO row – i.e., with the first stitch of the first foundation row. Why do you recommend not doing so and how important is it? I am a little embarrassed to say, I only make hats so I have only ever worked in the round so I am totally baffled by “turning” my work – I’d be much more comfortable just continuing around and around. May I, please? Thanks.

Thank you for your question! In fact, there are many ways to do a tubular cast on. The way that we show requires the two foundation rows to literally make a “tube” at the bottom edge by a technique called “double knitting”. This has to be done flat and not in the round in order for it to work. There are other methods of the tubular cast on that you can find on YouTube that have you working in the round from the beginning. However, I’d try the method we demonstrate first because it’s important to know how to knit flat too!

I love this pattern but just cannot work with such small needles. I would love to make it in your mulberry merino, but I do not know how to adjust the pattern. Needle size? Cast on? I would so appreciate your help!

Thanks for the question. First you’ll want to do a gauge swatch in the round to determine your stitches per inch. From there you’ll want to pick a hat circumference and multiply that number by your stitches per inch. This will give you a rough cast on amount — just make sure it’s a multiple of 2!

I’m making this hat in the newborn size, and I ordered the listed needles. I was bummed to discover when I tried to join in the round that these needles are too long. If the hat is supposed to be 14 1/2″ in circumference and the needles are 16″ long, isn’t that too long? Don’t I need 14″ needles? Or am I doing something wrong? I’m not that experienced with round needles.

Just a quick question… A friend of mine is knitting this pattern, but having trouble. She asked another person to help, but for some reason, when that person works the pattern, it looks different (and correct), compared to when either of us do it. The only thing we can think that we’re doing differently is knitting English, vs the other person’s continental. Would it make that much difference?

Thanks for writing in! Whether you knit English of Continental, this pattern should come out the same. The designer of this pattern knits English and I knit Continental and both of our hats have the same look. Have you checked out our tutorial on how to knit into the stitch below (https://www.purlsoho.com/create/working-into-the-stitch-below/)? While demonstrated by a knitter knitting English, the only real difference between English and Continental is the hand in which you are holding the working yarn. If you or your friend are in the NYC area, you can feel free to drop into the shop and we will do our best to help!

Hello!
I’m not that great at working with circular needles haha, I was wondering if I could knit this on straight needles with no problems? I understand that shaping the crown of the beanie would probably really difficult.
Any tips?
Thank you so much (:

Thanks for writing in! Knitting this beanie flat would require considerable reworking of the pattern which we are unable to do at present. We do have a scarf knit in two color Fisherman’s Rib (Color Dipped Scarf) that you could use as a template for how to work the stitch flat if you wanted to attempt it!

Hi –
After showing pics of various slouchy hat patterns to my granddaughter she has chosen this one hands down! However, she wants it all in white. Just wondering if you know what yardage I would need if using only one color.
Thanks so much.
Jill

Hi! I am enjoying this beautiful pattern but I messed up a row and so I pulled it out. But now I am not sure how to put it back on my needles as instead of one row of stitches there are now two parallels rows of stitches — one in each color yarn. When I was happily knitting all the stitches were one or another color alternating by rows, so I know I have to do something to pull it back together into one row but I am not sure what. I can send a photo if you can receive one. All advice appreciated on how to proceed.

Thanks for writing us! In order to fix fisherman’s rib, you need to know how to do Brioche stitch. Click here for a tutorial on that. When you rip out your fisherman’s rib you’ll notice that there is a normal stitch whose exiting thread of yarn floats past the next stitch and forms the stitch after that. You’ll want to pick up the “normal” stitch and then pick up the next stitch with the floating strand together. You’ll repeat this until you’ve picked up all the stitches. In order to get back to fisherman’s rib you’ll need to knit the “normal” stitch and then knit the next stitch together with the float. This will put you back on track. Hope this helps!

Thanks for writing us! Unfortunately there is no fool proof method for making the hat narrower after you’ve knit it up. It seems to me that your stitch gauge is off and that you need to go down a needle size or two. One thing you could do is felt the hat when done. This will shrink it significantly but will also change the look and texture of the fabric.

Hello Eileen,
Thank you for reaching out and for the kind words! Our Line Weight yarn is a fingering weight yarn. It has a gauge of 7 – 8.5 stitches per inches on US 1 – 4 needles.
I hope this helps!
-Marilla

Hey guys, super confused at the round 1 of decreasing. After that first lsl dec, wouldn’t we be at a knit stitch and not a purl? Should I just ignore the ribbing at this point and follow the pattern?

Also, if we start the second part 5 stitches before the next marker, am I wrong to be thinking the pattern only accounts for 4 stitches? 1 goes in to the p1b, then 2 into the rsl dec, and then another 1 into the last p1b. What happens to the 5th stitch?

Thanks for reaching out! The lsl decreases are worked over 3 stitches. You slip one stitch knitwise with yarn in back, knit the following two stitches together and then pass the slipped stitch over the two stitches that you knit together this using three stitches (a knit, a purl and a knit). This should put you at a purl that in the first decrease round you will p1b.

This similarly applies for the second part where you p1b, rsl dec, p1b. The rsl decrease uses three stitches plus the plus stitches from the p1b will equal the five stitches before the marker.

Thanks for writing in! I think that I can help! You will be placing markers every 15 repeats instead of every 15 stitches ( (K1b, p1) 15 times). This will be every 30 stitches and thus account for breaking the stitches into 4 sections of 30 stitches.

I’m looking for a ribbed hat to make with a beautiful skein of Madeline Tosh Merino Light yarn. Do you think that yarn would work for this pattern? It seems the Tosh yarn is a bit thinner than Line Weight, so that’s my main concern. Thanks!

Hello Christine,
Thank you for reaching out! I think this hat would be beautiful in Madeline Tosh Light. I think the gauge deference is slight enough that you should be okay. I would knit a little gauge swatch before jumping in, just to prevent any surprises along the way, but I say go for it!
Happy knitting,
Marilla

Hi! I made this hat for my hubby and it turned out beautifully, except for the lines from the Fisherman’s rib stitch appear to go on a diagonal from the bottom of the hat to the top, not straight up as pictured. Do you know why this would have happened? Do you think blocking could fix it?
Thanks!
Lara

Thanks for reaching out! Quite curious! The columns of fisherman’s rib should run vertically. I would try blocking it as this can certainly. This could happen if your knits are tighter than your purls of vice versa. If the columns appear to be spiraling up the hat and blocking does not correct them, perhaps you have invented a new technique!